CHEO doctors tackle parents' questions on babies and Omicron

Parents worried about the Omicron wave of COVID-19 had a chance to ask Ottawa doctors their pressing questions on Thursday night including concernsaboutthe severity of recently-notedcases among babies and other young patients.

A panel of staff at the Children's HospitalofEastern Ontario (CHEO)hosted thehour-longvirtual town hall one day after CHEOand a hospital in Hamiltonissued a public service announcement stating that six infants between the two sites had been hospitalized for COVID-19 infections since mid-December, despite the previous rarity of infant admissions.

"What we're seeing with Omicron is not really different from what we saw with other variants of COVID-19,"said panel memberDr. Nisha Thampi, a pediatric infectious disease physician and the medical director of infection prevention and control at CHEO.

"Kids have been generally dealing really well with the infection."

WATCH | The entire Q&A can be viewed below:

Questions were submitted ahead of time by email and well over 900 peopletunedintothe virtual session at its peak.

While noting the recent risein kids' admissions, Thampi said the experience of doctors at hospitals in communities thatare a few weeks ahead in their Omicron surge suggests the uptick is merely a reflection of the variant'shigh transmissibility.

"Most of the kids who arein our hospital with a positive COVID test are not admitted because of a COVID-relatedillness,"Thampi said, adding most children admitted because of COVID-19 have had short stays.

• Omicron surge is putting more Canadian kids and infants in hospital with COVID-19

Wednesday's public service announcement stated that the mothers of the babies admitted to CHEO with COVID were notvaccinated.

"Given that babies and moms have relatively weaker immune systems just during the pregnancy and the period after delivery, we're encouraging anyone who is pregnant to get their COVID vaccine or their booster," Thampi said.

'What does COVID look like in babies?'

CHEO president and CEO Alex Munter, who moderated the town hall,said the hospital received a lot of questions about what COVID-19 looks like in infected babies. Staff were also askedat what point achild should be brought to the emergency room.

"When we see a fever in a baby who's very young, like certainly under a month, we recommend that they come to the hospital because babies don't really tell us where their infection is and what their infection is. Itcould be bacterial or it could be due to a bacteria or to the virus," Thampi said.

The same goes for kids under three months who look unwell.

There is no typical picture of an infected child, Thampistressed.

"We've seen kids who have had somemild breathing difficulties or who've come in with just fever," Thampi said.

"The same things that we would have told parents to look for before COVID are the same symptoms that should make you think about coming to the hospital to seek treatment."

Limit contacts for infants, wear well-fitted mask

COVID-19 vaccines are not currently available to children under the age of five(except for some high-risk, immunocompromisedpatients), so Thampi was asked if babies under 12 months are at greater risk of contracting the disease.

She said it's not clear if infants have a specific increased risk to COVID-19 or if more cases are being seeing now.

"The easiest answer is yes, please do limit your contact at the present time," Thampi said of infants in general, adding that essential visitors helping care for mothers and babiesshould wear a well-fitted mask.

"Maybe hold off on the gatherings to introduce baby to the community and ensure that every eligible member of the household is vaccinated," she added.

Emily Johnston and her partnerBobakToufighi, who've been remaining largely isolated sincethe premature birth of their son a year and a half ago, said they were gratefulto see CHEO recognize the anxiety and confusion parents are experiencingamid the Omicron surge.

Dr. Allison Kennedy, a child psychologist and clinical lead for crisis services at CHEO, addressed that theme at the outset of Thursday's session.

"I think we were all expecting to bethrough the worst of it," she said of the pandemic."And here comes Omicron. So tough times, for sure."